Record 1.2 billion apps downloaded during last week of 2011

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The last week of 2011 was a record breaker for both iOS and Android devices, as well as the apps owners download to them. According to Flurry, between December 25-31 over 1 billion apps were downloaded for the first time. The record was actually set at around 1.2 billion apps.

That shouldn’t be too surprising considering some of the most popular gifts under the tree were running Android or iOS. There was always going to be a spike in device activations come the 25th, and around 6.8 million new gadgets got turned on for the first time that day. Flurry logged 242 million app downloads on Christmas day too.

The number of apps being downloaded actually grew as we progressed through the weeks of December. From December 4-17 the average was 750 million per week. That then jumped to 857 million for the 18-24th period, before spiking to 1.2 billion in the run up to the new year.

What’s also interesting is where all those app downloads are originating from. The U.S. leads the way with 509 million downloads. A distant second is China with 99 million, and the UK rounds out the top three with 81 million. After that no country gets much higher than 40 million apps.

And what is the prediction for 2012? With more and more consumers choosing to pick up an Android or iOS phone or tablet, breaking the 1 billion downloads barrier for apps is set to become the norm every week. That certainly bodes well for developers offering apps through Apple’s and Google’s app stores.